Schools

Hazelwood School District Approves 2011-12 Budget

Dwight Lindhorst, HSD's assistant superintendent of finance and facilities, said it's a balanced budget adding the district has a surplus despite major local and state funding cuts.

The Board of Education approved the 2011-2012 fiscal year budget at its Tuesday, June 14 meeting.

The figures that Dwight Lindhorst, assistant superintendent for finance and facilities, presented represents what he said is a fully funded budget.

With declining revenues due to decreasing property taxes and lower state funding, there are some major differences between the 2010-2011 budget and 2011-2012 budget.

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The budget projects revenues of $181,309,466 for the 2011-2012 school year. In 2010-2011, the district had revenues of $181,313,265. On the expenses side, the budget calls for the district to spend $181,309,466 in budgeted operating expenditures.

Operating expenditures would include items such as payroll, employee benefits and supplies.

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Major differences in this year's budget include the amount of funds the district anticipates from real and personal property assessed valuation. In the 2010-2011 school year, the district estimated an increase of incoming funds from assessed valuation of about $1 million due to new construction of residential and commercial real estate.

In the approved 2011-2012 budget, the district anticipates a decrease in assessed valuation funds of $122 million. This is about a 6.5-percent dip in assessed value of real and personal property within the district limits, a St. Louis County.

The district anticipates a drop in funding from the State of Missouri to the tune of $3.5 million less than the year prior. And with all the discussion of cuts here and there, HSD Board of Education member Mark Behlmann emphasized his preference to remain fiscally tight.

"I want to stay very conservative with us trying to maintain a budget," he said. "From my standpoint on the budget, I am going to vote to stay as conservative as we possibly can and to be good custodians of the taxpayers who entrust us to watch their money."

Because the largest portion of the district's expenditure budget derives from salaries and benefits, in an effort to offset the dip in county and state funds, the district plans to do a detailed review of the entire budget. This would include staffing and would help the district plan for the 2012-2013 budget, according to Lindhorst. He also mentioned the attrition method still being used to rid the district of nonessential teaching and staff positions. Attrition means rather than layoff staff, once an employee retires, his or her position is not filled.

"People are the main vein of our organization," he said. "Salaries and benefits make up 83 percent of our operating expenditures. So unfortunately, when we are under tight budgets, that's what we need to look at first in order to save big dollars."

For the start of the 2011-2012 school year, the district has an operating fund balance of about $50.9 million, or 28 percent of the entire year's budget. Lindhorst said this will help float the district for at least 15 weeks until federal, state and local funds for the year kick in.

The funds ensure sufficient cash is available to cover payrolls until January 2012 when the district starts receiving property tax revenue, Lindhorst said. It also ensures funds are available to cover emergency repairs or replacement of equipment.

"We have a  surplus by design," he said. "We started cutting expenditures two years ago, because we knew that we were going to have these funding issues with the state, and we anticipated also from property taxes.

"So in order to be proactive, we tried to adjust our budget as we went along, as opposed to having to make big cuts at one time as we have seen in other districts."

For more information regarding the budget, . Below is a brief budget summary. According to the district, the 2011-2012 budget:

  • Is a balanced budget
  • Has a decrease in revenues by $8 million
  • Has an increase in salary and benefits amounting to $340,000
  • Is usually revised in October, February and June to reflect any variances, including grants received during the year and other changes
  • Is based on estimates, but the estimates will vary from the actual amounts reflected in the reports to the state and the audited financial statements
  • Revenue estimates are low but expenditure estimates are high

 

The budget also includes the below combined funds:

    • Incidental fund: salary and benefits for all support staff, training costs, utilities, other purchased services, supplies and instructional materials
    • Teachers’ fund: salary, insurance, and retirement costs for professional staff; substitute teacher costs; and tuition payments to other districts

  • Bond issue fund: construction, renovation and additions approved by voters; projects start this month, with more to begin throughout this fiscal year.

  • Debt service fund: used to account for the accumulation of resources for, and the payment of, principal, interest and fiscal charges on general obligation bonds

  • Capital Projects fund: used to account for revenues restricted for acquisition or construction of major capital assets, including renovation projects and equipment and vehicle purchases


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